Bucks Brand Is Not Named After County

MARCOVITZ

December 06, 1990|by HAL MARCOVITZ, The Morning Call

Everyone knows Bucks County is famous for a lot of things.

It's the home of James Michener and New Hope and it's where George Washington crossed the Delaware. Oscar Hammerstein, Margaret Mead and Pearl Buck lived here, too. It's where the Continental Army hid the Liberty Bell one night, and it's where Henry Chapman Mercer built his museum, his unusual home and his tile works.

Now, it appears, Bucks County will be known for its cigarette.

That's right. Philip Morris USA, the company that makes available to the American consumer such useful products as Marlboros, Merits and Virginia Slims, is now the proud manufacturer of:

Bucks cigarettes.

Available, the ad says, in kings and kings lights.

"It's not named after Bucks County," says Les Zuke, who wants to clear the air right off. "It's named after the image that appears on the package -- an animal. The buck. It seemed like an appropriate name."

Zuke is director of communications for the cigarette manufacturer. I saw the ad for Bucks cigarettes in a national magazine and called Philip Morris to find out all about them. Zuke took the call.

"It's a name that is memorable, short and easily remembered," Zuke points out. "We were able to obtain the trademark for it."

Oh really? Whom did they ask? William Penn? Andy Warren?

The cover of the pack shows a deer -- I guess, a buck -- standing firmly amid evergreen trees and mountains. I assumed, after seeing the cover and hearing Zuke's explanation about the image Philip Morris is seeking to project, that the company is trying to sell Bucks cigarettes to people who enjoy the outdoors -- you know, the folks who go hiking in the fresh mountain air.

I suppose there's no law that would prohibit Philip Morris from using the name. I checked the Bucks County seal and there is no buck on it, so I assume Philip Morris is not infringing on any copyright the county government would hold on the name or the image of the critter.

And Philip Morris did publish the appropriate surgeon general's warning in the ad, so I guess they aren't doing anything wrong.

The Bucks cigarette is also what is known in the hack-and-cough industry as a "price value brand." It means the advertising for Bucks won't be as intensive as it is for, say, Marlboros, and that means Philip Morris can charge less for Bucks. Zuke says smokers will probably be able to buy Bucks cigarettes for 30 cents or 50 cents less a pack than what they pay for premium brands.

Price value brands, he says, "are the fastest growing segment of the cigarette industry right now."

In addition to Marlboro, Virginia Slims and Merit, Philip Morris also manufactures Parliament, Players, Bristol (I wonder if the folks in Lower Bucks know about that one), Benson and Hedges, Cambridge and, of course, Bucks cigarettes.

Bucks is the newest brand; Philip Morris brought it out in January.

Zuke couldn't say how often Philip Morris produces a new cigarette. Usually, he says, a new brand will be developed and marketed when the company determines that there is a void in the market that needs to be filled.

"What we try to do is to be responsive to consumer demand," says Zuke. "When consumers begin to express an interest in a particular cigarette, we try to meet that need."

OK, Philip Morris, but why did you have to name your butts after serene and bucolic Bucks County?

"It's named after the animal," protests Zuke. "It wasn't even test-marketed in Bucks County."